Blah

Okay. I have no idea to explain what is going on in my head, so Shannon told me to just post a blog and look at it tomorrow, then try to understand it. As a final project, I really want to combine modern and Khon. They are complete opposites, but modern is currently more popular than Khon, and people are currently losing interest in Khon. Such as, there are very few masters at mask making, partly because they either don't have heirs or they can not find anyone to become their apprentice because it is such a low paying job. These people base their lives off of this and because the general public has lost virtually all interest in the dance, these people lost their way of living. The traditional dances are still popular in Thailand, but they still aren't what they used to be thousands of years ago; a person could dance as a certain character their whole life. I guess I'm aiming for some type of appreciation thing. And the only reason why I switched from Thai dance to general dance was so that I could combine Khon and modern to make the final performance a lot easier on me. Shannon knows about modern and her teacher said that I could borrow any of her students for the performance, when Shannon told her about it, so she would be a good person to interview. I could also easily make a project if it's more general. I could even do little experiments about the popularity of the dances and how/why people have a preference. Plus, it's really interesting, too. Like, dances have been developed to express the emotions of people facing great suffering, show beliefs, etc. They can also be very spiritual. Not to mention, everyone usually dances atleast once a day. My main focus would most definitely be Khon because I love it and think it's so beautiful and it fits with anthropology well.

Essential & Foundation Questions

As of now, I am working on my essential and foundation questions. It's actually very difficult at the moment because I'm not entirely sure as to what I exactly want my project do be. It's all still a little vague. However, Shannon helped me a bit with some ideas of foundation/essential questions and I began to write down a few more. I'm not sure if any of them are very useful, but I'm starting to get a better idea of what I'll be aiming towards. So far, here are the questions that I have:

• Why are particular dance types more common than others?
• Why do different dances appeal only to certain people?
• What things do all dances have in common?
• Do particular dances regain popularity? Why? How much time passes between popularity spurts?
• Do dances express certain things relating to the times that they are popular?
• Why do they lose popularity?
• Through changing the dance or combining others, can it regain its appeal to the public?

So I guess I'm working toward maybe finding out why different styles of dance change and disappear so often, why some reemerge, etc. Something along those lines. =D

Essential Foundation Product

So far, the last catching up thing that I have to do is the essential and foundation questions, then deciding what I want my product to be. After talking to Shannon a lot about dance (specifically modern), I have possibly been thinking incorporating modern into the product so that maybe the choreography would be a little easier and possibly a little more creative, so that it wouldn't really matter much if I missed little details in the steps. Also, the costumes would most likely be a little easier to make because mixing it with modern would mean that the costumes couldn't be as heavy and clunky as they traditionally are, which would be a lot easier on the dancers. So, that's always a possibility. =D

Catching Up

Okay. I've done quite a bit of research, even though so many sites were blocked. I've got a pretty good understanding of Khon and the 'mechanics' of it. I'm waiting for the video I asked to borrow from this university in Ithaca, NY. Unfortunately, I requested about five, but the other ones weren't available. I asked the guy I was talking to if they would be available at a later date, but he has yet to respond to me. But I guess that's alright. I also requested a video and a CD from the library; I just have to remember to bring my card to class to check to see if they are available or not. If I don't pick them up by November 1st, they'll no longer be on hold. Then again, I don't think they're very popular things to check out.

But for now, work wise, I have to focus on the webliography and the foundation questions, now that I have a decent resource list. So yeah. Lovely. I have no idea what to do for an essential question. Gah. However, interesting enough, I'm pretty good on my final action. I know what I want to do and I basically know how to do it. My only issues are really the costumes and putting together the choreography of it, because I'm not real good at either, but I do know people who could help me. So that's good. =D

I'm excited about the performance. I think it will be great. Though, I'm not sure if I could get it done by 1st trimester of 12th grade, just incase I have grad project then. It's kind of going to be really difficult and I won't hold it in the summer because then the dancers would be far too hot in the extremely bulky costumes and masks that I have to make. -_- So, it's either going to be in early Spring (which I could never do for this year), or like....early-middle fall. That should work. ^_^

Unfortunate Problem

I must say, the most unfortunate thing about conducting research on the school computers is the 'parental' blocks. Just about everything that I click on is blocked. It's insane. I don't feel that there should be blocks on things like this because sometimes it's just an advertisement on the site and you're missing out on information that could be amazing. I think I would especially need YouTube because I would have to study their music, their dance techiques, and their costuming.

As of current, I'm not entirely sure as to what I want my main topic to focus on, but I do know what I want my action to be, which is usually a lot harder, in my opinion. Plus, the action would take so much longer and you have to love it to stick with it. So yeah.


Progress:

• No sure topic
• No essential question
• Action found
• Resource list nearly finished
• Lost on how to find foundations of theatre (reason for movements, what are the specific ways to play an instrument to specify something, reasons for costuming/headdresses, etc.)

Update In Topic

My topic has completely changed. Currently, I really want to focus on traditional Thai dance, which can also be considered a form of theater or drama. I've always been really interested in it for a long time, but I didn't think it should be used for the project because I wanted to incorporate my chosen profession (archaeology) into it and the two topics don't really fit together. There are multiple types of styles in which the dances are performed. Some only pertain to folklore as their plot base, or some have a specific type of movement, one used to be only performed for royals, etc. I'd really like to put on a production in the style of Khon, which is a very traditional dance that protrays all or sections of the Ramakien, which is Thailand's version of an Indian epic called Ramayana. The dancers are completely silent. Their actions, thoughts, and speech are narrated by someone who stands on the side of the stage, who is usually with a chorus. The music that's played depicts different things such as walking, expressions, weather, etc. I think it's a very fascinating form of dance because it's so different than anything that I've ever seen, before. Even though a production would take some time, even a year or so, it wouldn't be too difficlt, just time consuming. The main thing would probably be costumes, for money, and the place for it to take place.

Completely Blocked

I am basically back to where I started. I've found so many interesting subjects that I'd love to go further into. However, I have absolutely no idea of what I could do for an action. I desperately do not want to do anything bland and boring. I want to have something that I wouldn't mind researching and doing.

As of now, I'm really fascinated with ancient rites of passage, such as the process undergone by boys trying to be men, and girls turning to women, Bolivian healers (and the witches' market in La Paz, Bolivia), and just about everything in Indian, Japanese, and Chinese history. I particularly love their architecture, art, traditional dress, and theatre (Thai theatre, also).

So, even though I have managed to narrow things done, I'm still really stuck. However, I do think that I want to focus on either India or China. The Mauryans in India have such beautiful sculptures and the time of the Three Kingdoms in China is a really interesting story.